Blooming Fest takes root in downtown West Chicago

If you're going to hold a celebration called Blooming Fest, it's always nice to have Mother Nature on your side.

Face it, it's hard to marvel at the wonder of plants - and arts and crafts and live music and all the rest - on a wet, blustery day.

So organizers were more than a little happy when Saturday actually felt like springtime, and visitors to downtown West Chicago really wanted to spend some time outside.

The festival, one of West Chicago's biggest community celebrations of the year, has evolved from what started as the West Chicago Garden Club's annual plant sale. While that sale is still a major part of the festival - and an ideal spot to score some locally grown plants at really reasonable prices - the party has gotten considerably bigger since the club and city joined forces.

The single-day Blooming Fest now also features more than two dozen craft vendors, music, a car show, a pancake breakfast and displays at the City Museum.